Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Colocámos um painel solar no telhado para gerar energia limpa. - We installed a solar panel on the roof to generate clean energy.

colocámos is the first-person plural in the simple past (pretérito perfeito) of colocar, meaning “we placed.” The acute accent on “á” marks the stressed syllable and distinguishes it from the present tense colocamos (“we place”), which has stress on the second “o.”

Why don’t we see the subject pronoun nós (“we”) in the sentence?

Portuguese is a “pro-drop” language, so subject pronouns like nós are often omitted. The verb ending -ámos already tells you the subject is “we.”

What does no telhado mean, and why use no?

no is the contraction of the preposition em (“in/on”) + the definite article o (“the”). So no telhado literally means “in the roof,” but contextually it’s “on the roof.”

In painel solar, is solar a noun or an adjective, and why not painel de energia solar?

Here solar is an adjective modifying painel (“panel”). Native speakers often shorten painel de energia solar to painel solar for brevity—the adjective simply follows the noun.

Why is energia limpa ordered with the adjective limpa after the noun, and why limpa (not limpo)?

In Portuguese, descriptive adjectives generally come after the noun. energia is feminine, so the adjective agrees in gender as limpa (“clean”).

Why is gerar in the infinitive after para?

When expressing purpose (“in order to”), Portuguese uses para + infinitive. So para gerar means “to generate.”

Can I say instalámos or pusemos instead of colocámos?

Yes. instalámos (from instalar) means “we installed,” and pusemos (from pôr) means “we put.” Both convey a similar idea, though colocámos is the most neutral for “we placed.”

What’s the difference between telhado and teto in Portuguese?

telhado refers to the roof (the outside covering of a building), whereas teto means the ceiling (the inside overhead surface).